From Egg to Man

Measure once...

2010-09-28T18:53:00.019-06:00

So I needed to build a polycylindrical diffuser to help mitigate some flutter echo in my drum recording room. I'll be building bass traps and other exciting stuff, but this is the first project of many (or at least until the money runs out).

Initially, I was going to cut arcs out of 2x6 dimensional lumber, but my jigsaw (and my jigsaw technique) proved woefully inadequate to the task. As I tried to follow the curve I had drawn, the saw blade bent out, leaving an unacceptably uneven cut.

Not wanting to purchase a scroll saw (and not sure it would be adequate anyway!) I decided to improvise. Using one metric shit-ton of geometry and trigonometry, I figured out what lengths I'd need to cut small pieces of wood to approximate an arc from a circle with a 4-foot radius. I cut my 2x6's into pieces 1.75" high, cut them a million more times, and assembled this frame:

You can see there's one 2x4 down the middle, with a little pyramid-like stack of boards I cut from the 2x6's. I also cut a 1x4 strip with a 45-degree bevel on one edge; that's the piece on the long side of the frame.

This design has the side benefit of making the whole rig somewhat lighter as well.

Here's a shot of the strip that will hold down a piece of hardboard on either side of the diffuser:

And here's what happens when you select a 1x4 with a great big knot in it:

However, with a backing board and several deck screws, it's like the Good Lord never put that knot in there. Ahem. Plus, it will make a great place to hang microphone cables when it's done! Yeah!!

Here's a stack of the little boards before I painstakingly screwed them all into place; it's slightly easier to see the individual boards when they're just loosely stacked on top of each other:

I proceed to painstakingly construct a total of four of these little piles of joy, one for each rib:

...and then put the pre-cut piece of hardboard in place:

After tucking in the left edge, here's the finished product. Note how the stack of wood supports the curve just so. It's so very close to perfect that I'm beside myself with pride...and we know what that comes before.

Here's the bare wall that's causing me so much grief next to my drumkit. Notice that the ceiling is EIGHT FEET HIGH, but that the rafters are NOT EIGHT FEET OFF THE GROUND. You've heard the expression "Measure twice, cut once?" Well, yours truly, who up until now you might have thought was pretty clever what with those stacks of wood that create supports for a curve of a predetermined radius, NEGLECTED TO MEASURE ONCE. My diffuser is eight feet tall; my rafters will only accommodate objects less than 7 feet tall.

Here's what it looks like when you realize you have to cut a foot off the top of your fucking perfect polycylindrical diffuser:

But it's easier to cut off the top of it than you might think, and all's well that ends well. Here's the finished product, in place and making my drums sound wicket ahsum:

Now it's time to build a 2-foot radius model! I'll post a photo of that when it's done, if I manage not to kill myself with the power tools involved.

Remembrance of Things Chemical

2010-04-27T21:07:00.003-06:00

OK, I'm going Proustian!

Playing space invaders in that little arcade room in the back of Sears after school in the old brick St. Brigid's school building. Buying my cub scout numbers from the little bins in the part of Sears next to the stairs. Buying loud Miami Vice shirts from Moeggenberg's men's wear. Buying "cream horns" from the bakery on main street for Mary Battle and eating the sugar crystals first. Pizza Sam's and the scary looking fire escapes on the back of the buildings on Main Street. Bicentennial fire hydrants. Feeling like the 80's were the 50's due to some powerful magic in Alden Dow's architectural byproducts. The pine tree in the woods in the undeveloped land across the street from which I could see the water tower and the presbyterian church. Banana seats. Gray skies all winter long, and thinking every winter would bring a blizzard. Getting alone at the chippewa nature center. Peaches covered in dew from the tree in my backyard (which have spoiled peaches for me forever). The exquisite sensation of wool-polyester-blend cheerleader uniform worn by the occupant of the desk in front of me accidentally brushing against my bare knee. Sugar Springs. Feeling relieved to know that we were high on the list of targets in case of a nuclear war and would most likely be vaporized instantly. And driving around endlessly for fun.

Tivo Sucks!

2009-12-25T14:05:00.001-06:00

Maria Brooks: Thank you for contacting TiVo! My name is Maria Brooks. So that I may better assist you, are you an existing customer?
eggmaster: yes, I am an existing customer.
Maria Brooks: Thank you! In order to verify your identity, can you please provide the following account information?:

* address
* phone number
eggmaster: I have just updated it on the website, and the current values are:
eggmaster: [redacted]
eggmaster: [redacted]
Maria Brooks: Thank you for verifying your information, [redacted]. How may I assist you today?
eggmaster: my question is about HD tivos. I do not get HD service from my cable provider, but
eggmaster: I notice that some programs appear to be coming "down the wire" with a wide-screen aspect ratio. Consequently,
eggmaster: when I view some recorded programs, the right and left sides of the image are cropped off.
eggmaster: Do I need to upgrade to an HD tivo unit to correct this problem?
Maria Brooks: That's a good question. I'll do some research on that. This will take 2-3 minutes.
eggmaster: thank you.
Maria Brooks: You're welcome!
eggmaster: There are some settings in the tivo menus that pertain to aspect ratios, but they don't seem to correct the issue.
Maria Brooks: Is this happening with specific channels or just certain shows?
eggmaster: I'm not sure.
eggmaster: However, it appears to happen with every show on channel 2, and at least one show on another channel. But it does not occur with every show on every channel.
eggmaster: That is to say, there are shows that appear as desired.
Maria Brooks: Still researching...
eggmaster: Sure, take your time.
Maria Brooks: Do you have any of these programs currently saved on the TiVo?
eggmaster: Yes.
Maria Brooks: I'm checking your lineup information. A few more minutes, please.
Maria Brooks: I've noticed a problem with the way that you have your TiVo set up to work with your cable provider. However, I'm not sure if the problem that your having with your recordings is related.
eggmaster: ok.
Maria Brooks: What I do know for sure is that if the TiVo is not set up properly, I won't be able to properly diagnose the recording trouble.
eggmaster: I see. Well, let me know what to do.
Maria Brooks: I see that you are using your TiVo as a dual tuner. Your lineup report tells me that you subscribe to Comcast.
eggmaster: yes.
Maria Brooks: Unfortunately, because Comcast is on an all digital lineup now, the TiVo can no longer be used as a dual tuner.
Maria Brooks: You'll need to repeat your Guided Set Up and tell the TiVo that it is now going to function as a single tuner.
eggmaster: Well, is there a different Tivo model that is more compatible with the type of service that Comcast provides?
eggmaster: I am not opposed to buying a new unit if it will provide better functionality.
eggmaster: I presume that my existing Tivo service is transferable between units somehow.
Maria Brooks: This means you will no longer have the ability to record one show and watch another at the same time. Also, you will not be able to record two programs at once.
eggmaster: That is highly annoying.
Maria Brooks: Our HD TiVo
Maria Brooks: Our HD TiVo's are the only unit that will give you dual tuning capability with an all digital lineup.
eggmaster: Is there some kind of trade-up available? Or would I just have to buy a new one?
Maria Brooks: You are correct with your assumption that the service that you have on the current box will transfer over to the new box.
Maria Brooks: We don't have a trade in program, you'll need to purchase a new box if the dual tuning feature is something you need.
eggmaster: That's a shame. I am not a satisfied customer.
Maria Brooks: Oh no! What can I do to fix that?
eggmaster: Well, I purchased this unit with the understanding that it was a dual tuning unit, and the person at Best Buy even told me to buy this one specifically to work with comcast. Now, because of circumstances beyond my control, my service has degraded substantially. My dad was able to purchase an HD tivo and return his old one for a refund. I'm not sure why this option is not available for me.
Maria Brooks: Where did your Dad get his TiVo from?
eggmaster: I don't recall. And it's been some time since he made the exchange. But my recollection is that he did it directly through Tivo.
eggmaster: I don't know what Best Buy's policy is on this, but I'm doubtful that they will be helpful.
Maria Brooks: Did you get your box at Best Buy?
eggmaster: Yes, I did.
eggmaster: This was back in June, though, so whatever return period I had has no doubt expired.
Maria Brooks: That's going to limit my ability to get you any kind of refund on the equipment. I can certainly understand how frustrated you are!
Maria Brooks: I recommend trying to sell the box on ebay or craiglist and putting the money towards a new box.
eggmaster: Had I known that buying it from a reseller would limit my ability to get customer service from Tivo, I would have purchased it directly from Tivo.
eggmaster: In which case, I'm not sure why you do your future customers the disservice of selling through resellers.
eggmaster: Very disappointing. Tivo--.
You have disconnected.

Brian Wilson

2009-04-18T17:30:00.003-06:00

Back in November of 2008, I went to my second Brian Wilson concert. The first time I saw him was back when he premiered "Smile" in Minneapolis. Well, OK, the US premiere.

I have been lucky to take both of my kids to see Brian Wilson now. My older daughter went to Smile, and my younger one came to the "That Lucky Old Sun" show. Wife and an old friend from Ann Arbor were there, too, which made it even more fun (both had missed the "Smile" show).

Oh, and I bought a ticket for my sister to go see the show in Ann Arbor, just a few nights before the show we saw here in Minnesota. I felt really happy to send her to the show!

So here's the set list:

Set One:
Marcella
I Get Around
Wouldn't It Be Nice
God Only Knows
Good Vibrations
"That Lucky Old Sun," in its entirety.

Set Two:
California Girls
Surfer Girl
All Summer Long*
Please Let Me Wonder
Add Some Music to Your Day*
She's Not the Little Girl I Once Knew*
Do You Wanna Dance
Do It Again
Sail On, Sailor

Encore:
Johnny B Goode*
Help Me, Rhonda
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA
Fun Fun Fun
Love & Mercy

*songs I was pleasantly surprised to hear included in the set list

It was a terrific show. If I have one complaint about Brian's band, it's that they get pretty loud and tend to stay there...and then turn up to eleven to finish the songs. I mean, come on, you don't have to have EVERYONE in the band hit the last note of each song. But what they lack in pastel subtlety they make up in proficiency...not to mention making Brian feel good enough to record a great new project like TLOS!

I see he's scheduled some dates for this summer & fall, so if you get a chance, go hear this music! You are lucky to be alive at the same time as Brian Wilson and have the chance to experience his music!

http://www.brianwilson.com/tour/

Rockstar Doll, Baby

2009-02-17T12:10:00.002-06:00

Hi, imaginary readers. I'm hoping that you will become imaginary listeners, too.

I'm putting up some original music here.

I hope you find it entertaining.

What's New, Pussycat?

2008-10-01T14:56:00.002-06:00

Well, a good old friend of mine had the misfortune of reading my blog today, and it reminded me of my iron-clad guarantee to post on here at least once every six months.

Summer is drawing to a close, although I am sticking to my clothing rule of "summer is not over until it snows." I persist in wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

I bought and played the new-ish computer game, Spore. It was cute, but overall it was a big letdown for a "serious" gamer like me. #1 Daughter loves it, though. We're both excited about the potential for "The Sims 3," as if I needed any additional incentive to sit on my ass in front of a computer.

I took the kids to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, where they (after hours of trudging around searching for her) got to hang out with Twig the fairy:

Cute kids. I was really dreading taking the kids that day...I am not the world's most patient parent, and the 45-minutes-each-way drive along with the have-SCA-nerds-accost-me were really weighing heavy on my mind. But it turned out to be just fine...my kids are really well-behaved (in spite of how often it seems to me like they're totally out of control) and we enjoyed walking around the grounds, commenting on various anachronisms or which costumes we really liked.

Note to select Renaissance Fest attendees: I highly doubt that The Renaissance (or whatever time period you are imagining between, say, 1100 and 1700) was as skanky as you think. I didn't know there was such a thing as a Daisy Duke kilt. Maybe you are thinking of Renaissance Bratz (TM) dolls, or Sexy Milk Maid.

...and frog.

Now that I've worked up a good lather of curmudgeonliness, why stop? Here's something I just don't dig: Facebook. You get on there to find some old friend from college, and suddenly everyone in your high school yearbook is your "friend." Of course, I made the mistake of accepting the friend requests of a bunch of people that, as stated, merely passed the was-in-my-graduating-class test of "friendship." I guess this kind of bitchy attitude is what made me so popular back then.

Looks like we may be skipping Mexico this winter...which makes me sad. Still, this is supposed to be our year of reducing debt, and I just don't see how to swing it this time around. Especially with all the extra time I've had to spend filling sandbags and pouring bullet molds to prepare for the upcoming collapse of the social order (note to FBI/NSA/ATF/etc: THESE ARE THE JOKES!).

Which reminds me of one last rant: I didn't think it was possible, but I'm even more pissed at W! He (and of course I mean this in the Harry S. Truman "the buck stops here" sense, since I don't think he's really capable of succeeding at anything) has successfully run Our Great Nation into the ground. Mark my words: if McCain wins, we are outta here. "It was a nice Democratic Experiment while it lasted, but adios, mofos! See you at the apocalypse!"

Garumph!

The Establishment Clause

2008-04-30T11:08:00.003-06:00

Two observations from the fallout over "Reverend" Wright.

First, this is why politicians should *not* discuss their faith (or the lack thereof). And why, perhaps, they should attend church services in disguise.

Second, why (apart from the fact that the good Mr. Wright seems to want more than just 15 minutes of fame) are John McCain's controversial religious associations (read: endorsements) not getting similar traction in the American Zeitgeist-du-jour?

Personally, I would prefer an atheist/agnostic candidate (or at least one that would admit to it), but since that doesn't seem to be an option in America, the candidates' religious predilections matter to me about as much as whether they like to be on top or bottom.

Eeek!

2007-12-20T02:19:00.000-06:00

A mouse. Mice.

They scurry to and fro, and make merriment. Dust lover. Waste dweller.

One little bastard has just run in and out of my basement office in plain view.

I search the beams and boards in my basement ceiling, searching for their routes...where are they making their ingress and egress to my kitchen? Are these cobwebs 83 years old, or 83 minutes old?

I plug every crack and crevice with steel wool...I don't intend to give them any free shortcuts as they ramble throughout my home, the world of humans, a place where they are most unwelcome indeed. Do they eat the poisonous biscuits when two little girls (and two messy adults) scatter crumbs everywhere?

Sophie and I just finished reading, as our bedtime story of late, "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." Do I feel remorse when I see the half-eaten Tomcat brand bait block? No.

Lo, I am become Death, the destroyer of mouse worlds.

Nearing Solstice

2007-12-18T22:10:00.000-06:00

Hi.

Not much happening here these days, except for the constant frenzy of activity involved with working at a mail order place during the holiday season and the usual zillion tasks surrounding the upbringing of two children.

I'm only a few short days away from the winter solstice...then things should really get ugly. Just as the seasonal climate shift lags behind the apogee and perigee (i.e., the hottest months of summer happen well after the summer solstice), so does my typical seasonal pattern of depression. I've been seeing a pretty good therapist (who is also helping me with job related issues, as in considering possibilities other than my current somewhat dissatisfying position), so I'm optimistic that this year will be less traumatic than others have been.

Usually by February/March I am more than slightly off-kilter.

I am debating taking the RHCE exam in early January. I can't decide whether I prefer the thrill ride of system administration or the caffeinated buzz of programming. We're also planning a midwinter sojourn to Isla Mujeres (see previous post), and so I'm trying to decide how much grief I want to receive from my employer...as in, do I really think I deserve two weeks off in January?

RHCE is expensive, but it's pretty well-respected as certifications go, and part of me really craves some credentials.

Since I have been reading about the link between sleep deprivation and obesity (check), diabetes (not yet), etc. etc. (we'll see!), I think I'm going to go up and get into my bed and drift away into the sweet dreamscape.

Ta ta for now.

Faith Hope and Love

2007-11-14T23:16:00.000-06:00

Which reminds me of a Meatloaf classic: "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad"

Maybe one and a half on a bad day. Can you guess which one I'm missing?

I stumbled across my wife's blog about Catholicism today. My first reaction was "Oh wow, she's really into this stuff" followed by "Where's she getting all this extra time to run TWO blogs?" Then I noticed she hadn't posted anything on the Catholic blog between March and a few days ago.

I have a standard remark about my wife's conversion to Catholicism. "I spend all my adolescent years trying to get away from Catholic women, and what happens? My wife converts."

But seriously folks...

Something she wrote here made me think about responding on her blog, but since it would clash with the curtains over there I thought I'd just write it on my own blog.

She writes:
I am, however, offended deeply at the notion that God gave me depression to teach me these lessons. I can’t bear to hear people say that God gave a child cancer for the purpose of building character or correcting a fault. The verse is “God turns all things to good,” not “God does all things for good.” This may seem like a minor adjustment to the notion of how God works in the world, but it is a crucial one.

For me, the best thing about abandoning my faith in the supernatural is being set free from questions like these. Because I no longer worry about why God lets one baby die from malaria and another live, or how that might be turned to good, or that maybe S/He could have chosen a kinder lesson for the moral improvement of the parents or whatever. Things happen and I don't have to try to make sense of a supreme being who lets bad things happen to good people, or good things happen to bad people, or lets anything happen, really.

I'm not trying to dispute anything my wife describes in her post. In fact, I could really relate to her description of giving things over to God via accepting them into her heart, or however she eloquently phrased it. I feel the same kind of peace when I accept reality for what it is instead of trying either to push it away from me or to consider myself as separate from it in the first place. I think we work through a lot of things in similar ways, but I don't see any "God" in any of it, and she does.

No, the thing that struck me was just a profound sense of relief. These theodicean sort of questions really used to bug me. I can't really claim to be totally free, but thank God I'm free from this!

The worst thing about deciding I'm done with faith is the gulf it creates between me and the missus, and the difficulty it poses in raising our kids. But hey, if James Carville and Darth Matalin can get over their differences, what's a little religious disagreement between friends?

Oh, how it slays me

2007-09-25T09:31:00.000-06:00

This has been in the back of my mind ever since I saw it a few years ago:
Watch me

Eggmaster Simpson

2007-08-08T17:06:00.002-06:00

Had a hard time deciding between the Rock and Roll Tshirt or the Linux Penguin Tshirt.

Long Live Rock!

Where the hell am I?

2007-07-20T14:18:00.000-06:00

Uh, mostly in the World of Warcraft, although tonight I plan to take an extended trip to the world of Harry Potter.

DD1 and I are going to a midnight release "event" at a nearby Barnes & Noble. I'm not sure what the "event" part will be other than standing in line wringing our hands with the other hundreds of HP fans. I may wear a sign around my neck saying "Spoilers will be physically assaulted" and a very gruff, mean expression on my face.

The upside of going to the midnight release is that I will have my copy of the book before my wife has hers. Yes, you read it right; we buy two copies of the book and give one away after we've read it in parallel. Wrestling each other for a single copy would be extremely undignified, especially in front of our children.

I'm having a good summer. In spite of all the food I'm eating, my body shape seems to be plateau-ing at small-weather-balloon level. This week I tried lifting weights; I was so sore a few days later that I have not yet returned to them. Maybe tonight or tomorrow since the soreness has left me more or less.

Wifey asked me (in a roundabout way, i.e. by suggesting it in her blog) that I should tell the story of my correspondence with Daniel Pinkwater. And I will do that. Some other time.

Ta ta for now.

Will the real Eggmaster please stand up?

2007-05-30T09:41:00.000-06:00

In September, 1987, a young man from mid-Michigan took occupancy of a dorm room in Ann Arbor. Dissatisfied with his given, Christian name, he turned over the potato-shaped construction paper name tag that had been taped to the outside of the door of his cell and (perhaps not knowing the implications for his future ability to have, uh, "meaningful interactions" with "members" of the "opposite sex") wrote the word "Eggmaster."

Shortly thereafter, his roommate (not to be one-upped in nerdliness) flipped his name tag and wrote "Warp," which didn't stick and--by the consensus of his fellow subterranean dorm-dwellers--was changed to "Psycho." That turned out to be the keeper, although I always liked "Warp."

Flash forward to the year 2007. The Eggmaster googles himself and finds, to his horror (or, at least, his extreme irritation), that in the twenty years since he took the fateful step of becoming the Master of all Eggs great hordes of pretenders to the title have sprung up.

I'd like to know if any of these other so-called 'eggmasters' can date their nicknames prior to September, 1987. It's not like I can forbid anyone from using this nickname, but I had hoped when I chose it that the name would be random enough to be somewhat unique...that I was blazing a trail into uncharted realms of dorkdom.

Isla Mujeres, an earthly paradise

2007-05-29T13:34:00.000-06:00

In February 2007, we accepted an invitation from our good friends S&R to come stay with them on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, just off the coast near Cancún. This level of adventurousness and spontaneity is not typical for us...maybe it was the bleak Minnesota winter that forced us to such drastic action.

It was the best family vacation I've ever had. A few hours after I got there, I knew that I would be coming back. S&R moved to India--damn them--and so it fell to us to find some other friends to bring South of the Border. Luckily, I have two dear, old, gullible friends with two girls roughly the same ages as my kids.

I'm posting this photo-travelogue primarily for their benefit...so they can see what they're getting into. And so without further ado: Isla Mujeres, paradise on Earth.

Our island adventure began with a 20-minute-or-so ferry ride from the puerta in Cancún to the island. The ocean bottom here alternates between unbelievably vibrant shades of turquoise. Here I am with DD1 feeling happier than I had in months:

Getting off the ferry, we were approached by this dude, a malatero, who interpreted my very rusty-spanish request for a "taxi" as "we want to take a 10 minute walk to our hotel while you push our belongings (and children) on a rickety old bicycle-shopping-cart-hybrid".

Actually the walk was pleasant enough and the girls were very into this mode of transportation.

So after the friendly dude departed with his cart and 100 of my hard-earned pesos (I had no idea what to tip the guy so I erred on the side of "tourist is hemorrhaging pesos!"--the guy was trying to set a date to come and take us back to the ferry a week later) we walk around to the beach side of our bungalow to see this:

Yes, folks that's the Gulf of Mexico, its constant cooling breeze blowing right through the bungalow.

A typical day for us was to get up when the kids got up, let them play on the beach outside our place until sunburn hours commenced (say 10 or 11 AM), after which they had to stay in the shade of the palm trees or be inside. Wifey or I would walk into town to get fresh produce for the day's lunch, check email, shop, etc. Or maybe we'd all play a board game or whatever. Then at about 3:30 or 4:00 we'd all head over to Playa Norte, which is the main swimming beach.

We'd hang around at the beach, swim, drink margaritas and eat snacks from the vendor dudes who wander around the beach. Then we'd either go out for dinner or head back home for something we'd prepare in the kitchens there.

The island is long and narrow, and we're only a 5 minute walk from town. For trips down the length of the island, there's a municipal bus, or taxis. Other than that there are not many cars on the island. Most of the tourists enjoy renting these golf carts or mopeds...the girls loved this:

And it was so charming (and a source of great national pride) to see my fellow Americans loading 5 or 6 hefty inebriated corpses onto these golf carts and attempting to pilot same back to their posh hotels.

OK, some randomness in the ordering of the images here...
This is a nice place to get a coffee or a light meal; breakfast was good. They also have a clever sort of lending library in here; you can buy paperbacks for some nominal fee and return them when you like.

Across the street is the "cyber cafe" where I did most of my spam-weeding-out and office-fire-extinguishing:

Very "Neuromancer".

This is a shot of the girls spontaneously breaking into joyful dance at the home of the four 'loncherias' adjacent to the local municipal market. This was a favorite place for lunch...very friendly people and good 'authentic' Yucatán cooking.

On the day before we left (or maybe that day, I don't remember) I decided to take some photos of a walk into town. Undeterred by the threatening storm clouds, I set out:

That's the "back" (street side) of the bungalows. We stayed in the unit to the right, which is the southern unit. There is a nice little garden of succulent plants also populated by geckos and iguanas which the girls loved to look at.

walking about 200yds brings you to the municipal "convention center"/indoor basketball court. There were games going on a few nights a week. This shot is looking back up the dirt road that leads to Hotel Secreto (posh), Hotel Media Luna (posh), and our place (best). On the right is the chain link fence that encloses the site of some massive new condo development...I hope it does not destroy the character of Playa Media Luna...actually I think it will be ok.

Here is the East entrance to the municipal market...a favorite spot of mine. You can see the loveable and omnipresent character-toon-a-tron for the BIMBO bakery corporation.

Inside you find three or four produce and general grocery stalls where you can practice your Español (me permite tomar un foto, Señora?) and buy fresh mangos, papayas, hammock cords (essential!!), freshly made corn tortillas (they smell so good), beans and rice. It's so awesome.

And, of course, you will want to show your devotion to Nuestra Señora at the gaudy yet reverence-inspiring shrine to same:

This is a shot as you leave the back entrance of the mercado...great job the camera did focusing on the nearby arch...I was trying to get a shot of the covered pavilion where the loncherias are.

Finally, I had to end my photojournalistic efforts with this shot down the "main drag" (foot traffic only) of the town. There are so many good, cheap restaurants along here, along with tequilerias, hotels (see balconies top left), silver sellers, art dealers, etc. etc. It was starting to rain heavily and I needed to get my camera back to the bungalow before my clothes soaked through.

And that's that!

Down the main drag about 5 or 6 blocks is the main plaza, replete with catholic church (and painted concrete Mary on top), civic building (where you bribe the local police perhaps?), and a supermercado where you can buy...well, super stuff that the little stalls at the mercado municipal don't have room/facilities to stock. Toilet paper, diapers...things like that.

There's an ATM that will let you get 3000 pesos each day (I guess this depends somewhat on your bank's max limit, but I got 3000 a pop)...pesos:dollar is roughly 10:1.

Later on I'll post some pics of the inside of the bungalow so you can see the living conditions.

I have to say...this vacation was life-changing for me. I had never really done any world traveling prior to this, and seeing people living happily in conditions vastly different than Minnesota gave me a new perspective that has allowed me to re-evaluate my own life and work choices. Also it was a great chance to get to know S&R, and I know we're looking forward to reconnecting with our old friends next winter.

2007-05-25T14:35:00.001-06:00

My magnificent sideburns, and Mr. Grumpypants frown.

Out of the dung heap a lotus grows...

2007-05-25T11:05:00.000-06:00

I am waiting for the lotus, but I believe I have found the dung heap.

Back in therapy for my long-standing depression and anxiety issues. It's been several years since my last round of talk therapy, so this Spring seemed as good a time as any to do some mental gardening. (OK, so it was more like "Oh my god, I can't take it anymore, give me that therapist's email address!")

Luckily I seem to have landed with someone who tracks with me through all my mopey trains of thought. So wish me luck. It's amazing how quickly the weeds come up in here, but it's also oddly reassuring to know the soil is still fertile. Oh, it's fertile alright.

Gimme gimme gimme! I want I want I want!

2007-05-17T14:46:00.000-06:00

OK, I simply must have this kind of house:

http://www.enertia.com/

This idea appeals to me in so many ways that my heart is all aflutter.

Eggmaster is dead! Long live Eggmaster!

2007-05-10T08:45:00.000-06:00

OK, I quickly discovered that wordpress.com is not where I want to be. They wanted me to pay for the privilege to edit the CSS for my blog!

So...for the few people who have actually returned to read my blog a second time, please update your bookmarks. I'm on the blogspot tip now!